Commanders Post- Painful Victory coming in sorry circumstances...
PORTIONS PREVIOUSLY APPEARING ON WTOP.COM-
Let me lead off the discussion of the Washington Commanders' 12-7 victory over Chicago by stating the obvious: Thursday Night Football in its current state sucks. On every level. As long as they have teams that play the previous Sunday square off on the following Thursday. From a player safety standpoint (in today's NFL it takes until Wednesday for players to recover from the Sunday's game) to team preparation (a walkthrough and a practice can hardly get a team in gear for an NFL game in 2022) four days of turnaround time are not long enough. Instead of prime time product for a prime time audience, the consumers get a lesser product that is only highlighted when less-talented teams take the field. The league needs to give teams that play Thursday the previous weekend off, and until they do we're going to be subjected to re-heated sushi on a weekly basis.
As for the Commanders "victory", they were fortunate to face a team that misfired and squandered multiple golden opportunities. But the win means they're 2-4...which feels much more than one game better than 1-5.
Wentz's Woes- Carson completed 12-22 passes for a season-low 99 yards while getting sacked three times. He also broke the ring finger in his throwing hand and is out four to six weeks after having surgery. So...it's Taylor Heinicke time once again and Washington will start multiple quarterbacks for the fifth straight season.
Running into a Great Story- Brian Robinson rushed for 60 yards and his first NFL touchdown on the same night of his first career start. Quite a comeback for somebody who was shot in the leg less than two months ago. Antonio Gibson and J.D. McKissic added 55 yards on seven carries, but this is Robinson's ground game until further notice.
Pass Catch Fever- Terry McLaurin caught three passes for 41 yards while Curtis Samuel was held to a season-low two catches for six yards (he's still on pace for 96 receptions). Jahan Dotson was unavailable with a bad hamstring. Would he have been ready to go if the game was played on Sunday?
Third and Awful- the offense converted just 2-11 chances, calling nine pass plays to two runs. Carson Wentz completed 2-6 passes for one conversion (although one incompletion was rescued by a defensive pass interference call) while getting sacked three times. His top option was Terry McLaurin who had two targets with one catch that resulted in the conversion. Washington ran twice with Brian Robinson gaining three yards on a third and one while Antonio Gibson gained three yards on a third and seven (setting a up a late field goal attempt). Distance breakdown: 1-2 on short-yardage, 1-6 on four to six yards needed, 0-3 on long-yardage.
Bending but not Breaking- the defense held the Bears to just one touchdown, stopping Chicago on 8-13 third downs. Cole Holcomb led the way with 12 sacks while the pass rush yielded five sacks (two coming on third down) and Jonathan Allen recorded an interception in the red zone. They also had a last-minute goal-line stand from the five-yard line that preserved victory. With a change in quarterbacks, the D is going to have be the engine that drives this train over the next month.
Special Situations- Tress Way is too good for this team. The punter averaged 51.2 yards per kick with zero touchbacks (twice pinning the Bears inside their own 20). His 54-yard punt was muffed and recovered by Washington to set up the go-ahead touchdown. Two of his other punts were downed and one was a fair catch, while punt coverage allowed a five and a ten yard return. Joey Slye made field goals of 28 and 38 yards while missing a 48-yarder. He also had two touchbacks with one kickoff returned 22 yards. Dax Milne had punt returns of seven, 14, and 14 yards with a fair catch. Antonio Gibson had a 27-yard kickoff return.
Flying Flags- Washington was whistled eight times with seven penalties accepted for 36 yards. Three were on offense (illegal formation, a false start, and a hold) while two were on defense (hold, too many men, and illegal use of the hands) and two were on special teams (hold and a delay of game). The top culprit this time? Well, everybody and nobody: the delay of game and both too many men on the field were charged to "unnamed" players. The top infraction through six weeks? False starts (nine). The most costly penalty this week? A false start on Cam Sims turned a third and goal from the five into a third and goal at the ten. One play later Washington had to settle for a field goal in what would wind up being a one-score game.
Digesting the Division- Philadelphia (6-0) owns the No. 1 seed in the NFC while the surprising New York Giants (5-1) are currently fifth in the conference. Dallas (4-2) is in sixth place while Washington (2-4) is 12th in the NFC, losing the tiebreaker to New Orleans (conference record) while prevailing over Arizona (strength of victory) and Chicago (head to head). Much better than the previous couple of weeks when they were sixteenth.
East remains the Beast- the NFC East is 17-7 through six weeks and two games ahead of the AFC East (15-9). The softest quartet remains the NFC South (9-15). Meanwhile the NFC owns an 11-10 edge over the AFC in the inter-conference contest.
In The Booth: Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit are in their first season together on Thursday Night Football, and one feels for them having to sit through the dreck that is TNF this fall. Michaels especially-who goes from the best matchup of the week that's flexed in the final month to a pre-fixed game where both teams are coming off of short rest. Perhaps the NFL will do the right thing and fix this mess. But do I believe in miracles? No...
NITTY GRITTY NUMBERS: three weeks gives us a little bit more of a sample size. Washington's unit rankings in the NFL...:
Scoring Offense- 29th. Scoring Defense- 18th.
Rushing Offense- 24th. Rushing Defense- 25th.
Passing Offense- 18th. Passing Defense- 15th.
Off. Pass Efcy- 23rd. Def. Pass Efcy- 27th.
Total Offense- 24th. Total Defense- 19th.
Sacks Allowed- T31st. Sacks Made- T4th.
Third Down Efcy- 26th. Third Down D- 3rd.
Turnover Margin-----T28th.